Stone grave markers, e.g. gravestones, obelisks and like grave-marking devices are generally carved from natural rock formations, shaped, engraved and mounted upon a base or foundation, e.g. of concrete.
The face of the stone can be engraved by sandblasting to memorialize the individual, family or group of individuals buried in the region of the stone and the stone is generally mounted upon the previously emplaced foundation on a base with the aid of a crane or other force-multiplying device or machine because of the large mass of the stone.
In spite of the natural characteristics of the stone and, generally, even because of the natural characteristics, the stone tends to weather uncontrolledly and the engraving loses definition and may even be eroded entirely.
After some time such gravestones can become unsightly and undecipherable.
In many cases, the ground in front of the stone is set aside for flowers or plants which may be tended by persons having an association with the deceased. In such cases, it is frequently necessary to water or provide attention to the plants and, for this purpose, watering cans and horticultural tools may be concealed behind the stone for use by the person tending the grave or the plot.
Sometimes such watering cans are removed by others to the detriment of the individuals tending the grave. This makes grave-tending particularly difficult, especially since grave-tending frequently is carried out by older people or individuals who are partly infirmed or disabled.
A further disadvantage is that each grave marker of conventional design must be fabricated separately. Mass production has never, therefore, found its place in the production of grave markers except under unusual circumstances and hence the unit cost of such gravestones is comparatively high.
In German open application DE-OS No. 1, 908,494, a grave marker is described which has a body composed of metal, e.g. copper, brass, aluminum or iron and having a hollow interior which is accessible when an upper portion is tilted on a lever-linkage or the like so that grave-tending utensils can be stored in the interior of this memorial.
Such tiltable memorials have a disadvantage that they are extremely expensive, in part because of the complex lever mechanism, without which the tilting of the relatively heavy upper portion would be impossible or impractical because of the strength which would be necessary.
Another disadvantage of this earlier system is that it requires subdivision of the memorial into upper and lower portions which differ in shape and, indeed, collectively form a structure of complex configuration which is expensive, time-consuming and labor intensive to fabricate.
For this reason, the earlier system did not gain commercial acceptance and was not able to be manufactured effectively by mass production or serial production techniques.
Another disadvantage of the memorial described in this document is that the memorial could not readily be adapted to individual wishes or could only be adapted to the individuality of the potential purchaser at high cost.
Finally, mention should be made of the fact that a hollow interior could only be used effectively for the storage of utensils and not for other purposes, e.g. the watering of plants, which will be shown below to be important.
In German open application No. 1,997,895, a memorial is described which can be composed at least in part of synthetic resin material and which provides a space to which access is afforded by a closable door and in which the grave-tending utensils may be stored.
This system has the disadvantage that synthetic resin materials are especially prone to aging processes which limit their life, undergo changes in color with weathering and time, and generally do not provide a competitive system for natural stone grave markers from the point of view of aesthetics.